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by KurlyQ722
Summary: Cute, fluffy one-shot featuring future Samcedes and thier adorable little one. Enjoy!


**Greetings! This little one shot came to me in a dream, actually. And it is sweet and fluffy and perfect…well at least in my mind. It's a songfic featuring Sam singing one of my absolute favorite songs "Father and daughter" by Phil Collins. If you've never listened to it, PLEASE go and hear it and then imagine Sam singing it. It's a beautiful thought, really. **

**So, read and enjoy! And please tell me what you think and review! **

Mercedes woke up bleary eyed, glancing at the neon numbers of the clock on her bedside table. Tiredly rubbing her eyes, she turned it at an angle so she could better see the time. _Ugh 3:37 am_, she thought, rubbing her forehead. After almost two years of early morning rises, she still could not get used to waking up at the ungodly hour. She reached across her stomach, feeling around, until she realized that the arm usually wrapped around her was strangely absent. For as long as she can remember, Sam had always been a spooner. He loved to curl himself around her as they slept, holding her warm body flush to his chest, resting his head atop her shoulder. And after eight years of blissful time as husband and wife, that fact never changed. "It's the only way I can fall asleep now, wrapped in your warmth" he told her once. At first, it was just endearing. Now, she couldn't stay asleep unless she felt his arm across her stomach, holding her protectively. _My adorable little security blanket, _she thought amused, chuckling in the dark of their bedroom. She sat on the edge of their bed, sliding on her slippers before she slowly made her way to the next room.

_There's only one place he could be at this hour….._

But, to her surprise as she opened the door, the pink and white striped nursery was empty and silent. She walked quickly to the oak crib and, seeing it surprisingly bare as well, began to worry.

"Sammy?" She called out loud, praying he would answer and allay her worries.

"In here" he responded gently, calling from their living room.

And as soon as she heard the soft music playing in the background, she sighed and smiled, breathing easier. _Of course_, she thought, smiling affectionately. Ever since Olivia was three days old, Sam would take her in the living room and dance with her, playing soft music until she fell asleep. Occasionally, when she was particularly cranky, he would sing her a song or two to calm her cries. And as soon as she would hear her daddy's voice, Olivia would stop and listen intently until her little eyelids fluttered and grew heavy with sleep. By the time he would end his second or third song, her soft snore would resound in the quiet room and he would put her down for the night. Mercedes would never interrupt their little moments when they happened. She saw how Sam's eyes would glisten every time he looked at their little one, curled against his chest. Love emanated from his being, and it was solely and purely _their _moment, just father and daughter. It felt wrong to intrude.

Plus, seeing Sam holding their daughter made her heart swell. If she didn't fall in love with this man before, she truly fell head over heels watching him sway with her, cradling her tiny form in his strong arms. She had never felt so blessed.

Padding gently across the hall into the living room, her eyes adjusted to the soft lamp light in the living room and made her wince. When her vision finally fell into focus, she smiled tenderly at the loving scene before her. Sam was bare chested and mussed, clad in only his heart print boxers and white socks. His hair was disheveled from just rolling out of bed, spiking adorably in every direction, but Mercedes thought he had never looked more handsome. She stood and watched them silently, leaning against the doorframe and taking her little family in.

His eyes never left the sleepy one and a half year old in his arms and, looking down at her, he couldn't help but kiss her little forehead for what was probably the twentieth time that night. Everything about Olivia left him in awe. His little girl was nothing but sweetness, from her glossy light brown curls, floating lightly about her head like a halo, to her soft cinnamon skin and warm hazel eyes. Even her small giggles floated like bubbles around his heart, making him lighter than air. When she was born and he first held her flailing little body in his arms, he knew that he would fight to the death to protect her. And, when she stopped crying and opened her little eyes to gaze at him, he lost all ability to speak. In that moment, all the crap that he had ever gone through, from poverty and homelessness, to losing then fighting for the woman he loved, to the bills and responsibilities and fears of adulthood, had disappeared in the brief moment he locked eyes with her. _If all of that was to prepare me for this moment_, he thought, _then I would do it again ten times over. _He and Mercedes had created a tiny little miracle-this _gift -_ with her nose and his lips and their smiles and he couldn't be more content. He hoarsely crooned his heart to her in their lullaby, putting all of his emotion into his words:

_If you leap awake in the mirror of a bad dream  
>And for a fraction of a second you can't remember where you are<br>Just open your window and follow your memory upstream  
>To the meadow in the mountain where we counted every falling star<em>

_I believe a light that shines on you will shine on you forever_  
><em>And though I can't guarantee there's nothing scary hiding under your bed<em>  
><em>I'm gonna stand guard like a postcard of a Golden Retriever<em>  
><em>And never leave 'til I leave you with a sweet dream in your head<em>

_I'm gonna watch you shine_  
><em>Gonna watch you grow<em>  
><em>Gonna paint a sign<em>  
><em>So you'll always know<em>  
><em>As long as one and one is two<em>  
><em>There could never be a father<em>  
><em>love his daughter more than I love you….<em>

He wiped the single tear from his eye as he finished his song to her.

"You know, you're gonna spoil her like this. She'll never learn to fall asleep on her own." he heard his wife say with a smile in her voice.

He shrugged gently, smiling when Olivia gently stirred and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "Don't care. I'll dance with her as long and as often as she wants. When she's five or when she's fifty, her daddy will always be there to dance with her." And he meant every word.

Mercedes sighed happily. "Oh, Sammy…. She's got you wrapped around her little finger doesn't she?" She smiled warmly when he gently kissed Olivia's nose.

"Can't help it. Especially when she looks so much like her beautiful mommy. I can't help but fall in love all over again" He finally looked up at Mercedes and gazed lovingly at the woman who had given him this precious gift. Her hair lay on the side of her head in a sloppy bun, revealing the soft roundness of her face. Clad in purple silk pajamas and fuzzy slippers with "Diva" printed atop them, she had never looked more beautiful. He blushed and looked away, still overwhelmed by her beauty and the fact that she had chosen him. He had never felt so blessed.

She bit her lip to stop her wide grin, amused by her husband's sudden shyness. "What?" she inquired, curious as to what was going on in his head. She couldn't believe that she could still make him blush after all these years. And, she couldn't believe the butterflies in her stomach had only gotten stronger over the years when he looked at her. He was just so damn cute!

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but stopped mid speech, caught mid thought. "Baby, hold Olivia for a second?" Her brow furrowed as she took their sleeping daughter from him, then rose slightly as she smirked, watching him start the music again on their stereo.

He walked up to her in all his hard bodied glory, mischief shining in his eyes. "Sam?" she chuckled, knowing he was up to something achingly sweet and adorable. It was so like him to be romantic at inappropriate moments, like at 4am while she held a weighty toddler.

"I just wanted to say that I love you, Mrs. Evans," He spoke warmly, "and that, even with an unwashed face and morning breath" he chuckled when she arched her eyebrow at his comment "you are the most beautiful woman I've ever known and will ever know. There is no one else for me. And, with you and Olivia, I truly feel like I have everything a man could ask for"

"Sammy…" she swooned, tears coming to her eyes.

"Shhh…." He hushed her, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs and cradled them in his hands. "Just do me the honor of dancing with me? ….With us? " She looked down at Olivia and lovingly pressed her lips to her small rounded face, mirroring her own. She smiled at her husband and nodded. "It would be an honor to dance with you both." He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and clasped her free hand in his own, holding her as close as he could without disturbing the baby. He rested her forehead on hers and slowly swayed, dancing in an intimate circle. They moved in time to the music, treasuring the small time they had together as a family.

And though the sun dared to peak across the horizon, shedding a dim light through their patio window and bringing with it the obligations and craze of the morning, the Evans family chose to ignore it for now. Right now, there weren't any worries.

Right now, in this moment as husband, wife, and daughter, there was only love. And nothing, not even the promise of sunrise, could taint it for them.


End file.
